Last night I heard and then watched the cardinal parents making a noise new to me, a sort of loud quick cluck, and which I gathered they were using to coax their babies to fly into a dense thorny shrub at the corner of the house, backed up against our bedroom window. When I first heard the sound, I actually thought someone was hitting a stick against the ground out on the bike path. I was able to observe them for quite some time. The babies wouldn't budge, remaining in the yaupon holly. They took off for the viburnum patch when I stepped out for an evening walk (heading over to Myles Dr to see if I could see the hawk nest that our postman, Al, mentinoed). Parents quickly followed. They moved around the yard in the evening and eventually were quiet for the night.
This morning I heard nothing from the cardinals, adults or babies, and hope they are okay. Maybe they went to another yard for something new. But we had 3 or 4 catbirds singing in the viburnum patch and around 9am, when I was washing dishes, here came the rabbit. Spence is right, the rabbit does not have much of a tail, so maybe it is a marsh rabbit and not a cottontail. He's been around nibbling on I don't know what for about a half hour now. I want to go out in the yard and work a little bit at least, before it gets too hot, but I don't want to disturb the rabbit, who I am sure has a less flexible schedule than I do.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
Cardinal babies and more
Friday, May 11
We had a good rain this morning, first one in a while, and I wondered how the baby cardinals would weather it but they appear fine, and I saw one make a very fine flight from the yaupon holly, swooping across the sand patch to the oaks. Both are now in the viburnum patch outside the kitchen window, along with a black-throated blue warbler (male) that I observed taking insects from a spiderweb. While the warbler was active, baby cardinals were totally quiet. When the warbler left, the babies made subdued tweet noises.
Thursday, May 10
Today Spence saw the cedar waxwings eating the fruit on what appears to be a strangler fig on Melbourne Court, across from the Introspection salon. We read that great crested flycatchers often incorporate shed snake skins in their nests and we think how cool it would be if the resident black racers, which we've seen a lot of recently, were able to contribute old skins to the nesting cause. Ovenbird under the yaupon holly. The house is pretty much surrounded by vegetation so the birds can safely circumnavigate the yard, finding plenty of food and places to hide.
Wednesday, May 9
In addition to watching the cardinals, today we saw great crested flycatchers (and heard their "wheep"). We saw one on the power line at the cabbage palm/fence border between our yard and Sawyers, about two weeks ago. Would be fantastic if they were nesting. We thought the catbirds, cedar waxwings and oven birds were all gone but we saw them all today, but in smaller numbers. No more groups of catbirds creating a chorus of squeeks and whistles and other funny noises. The cedar waxwings have eaten all the fruit from our yard that they want, I guess. I see them high in the air in smal flocks, going from the top of one tall oak to another, or one of the neighborhood's big pines.
Monday, May 7
We have heard baby birds for a about a week -- maybe a few days -- but today we got our first glimpse of two fuzzy cardinals, still with their gray beaks, being moved around the house by their parents, in flight training and still being fed pretty continuously by both parents. Cardinals appear to be exemplary parents.
This past winter and spring, we've had painted buntings, many many catbirds, cedar waxwings, all the various warblers, and regular ovenbird visits. We've had a rabbit again, perhaps not the same one, and seen the turtles enough to know they're still alive.
We had a good rain this morning, first one in a while, and I wondered how the baby cardinals would weather it but they appear fine, and I saw one make a very fine flight from the yaupon holly, swooping across the sand patch to the oaks. Both are now in the viburnum patch outside the kitchen window, along with a black-throated blue warbler (male) that I observed taking insects from a spiderweb. While the warbler was active, baby cardinals were totally quiet. When the warbler left, the babies made subdued tweet noises.
Thursday, May 10
Today Spence saw the cedar waxwings eating the fruit on what appears to be a strangler fig on Melbourne Court, across from the Introspection salon. We read that great crested flycatchers often incorporate shed snake skins in their nests and we think how cool it would be if the resident black racers, which we've seen a lot of recently, were able to contribute old skins to the nesting cause. Ovenbird under the yaupon holly. The house is pretty much surrounded by vegetation so the birds can safely circumnavigate the yard, finding plenty of food and places to hide.
Wednesday, May 9
In addition to watching the cardinals, today we saw great crested flycatchers (and heard their "wheep"). We saw one on the power line at the cabbage palm/fence border between our yard and Sawyers, about two weeks ago. Would be fantastic if they were nesting. We thought the catbirds, cedar waxwings and oven birds were all gone but we saw them all today, but in smaller numbers. No more groups of catbirds creating a chorus of squeeks and whistles and other funny noises. The cedar waxwings have eaten all the fruit from our yard that they want, I guess. I see them high in the air in smal flocks, going from the top of one tall oak to another, or one of the neighborhood's big pines.
Monday, May 7
We have heard baby birds for a about a week -- maybe a few days -- but today we got our first glimpse of two fuzzy cardinals, still with their gray beaks, being moved around the house by their parents, in flight training and still being fed pretty continuously by both parents. Cardinals appear to be exemplary parents.
This past winter and spring, we've had painted buntings, many many catbirds, cedar waxwings, all the various warblers, and regular ovenbird visits. We've had a rabbit again, perhaps not the same one, and seen the turtles enough to know they're still alive.
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